Nothing Else Matters
by kates1304
Summary: Connie and Michael have some difficult decisions to make


_ So close, no matter how far_

_Couldn't be much more from the heart_

_Forever trusting who we are_

_Cause nothing else matters_

Connie fingered the letter gently, running her index finger thoughtfully along the edges of the expensive, thick paper and reread it, hardly able to believe what she was reading. When she'd met Jeremy Hines ten years before as well as being a good friend, he'd been a valuable asset in her fast growing catalogue of "friends in high places" but since the death of his wife she'd hardly seen or heard anything of him so this letter had been a bit of a bolt from the blue. When she'd seen the official looking envelope from the DOH addressed to her rather than her husband, she'd been a little worried and half wondered whether there had been another complaint about her conduct but she couldn't have been further from the mark. It appeared that out of sight was not out of mind and when Jeremy had been looking for someone to direct a new cardiac unit he'd known immediately who was the best man for the job. From what the letter said this job was the stuff of dreams; a once in a lifetime opportunity to head up her own clinical and pioneering research centre complete with a budget with so many zeros on the end the mind boggled at the mere sight of it. Further more, she would have a staff of fifty hand picked surgeons working beneath her and already she was mentally weeding through the junior doctors she'd worked alongside in the past, wondering which ones she'd head-hunt, feeling a small pang of sadness that she couldn't ever have Will Curtis on her team. She sat at the table planning the crack team of the most talented, accomplished surgeons who would work for her at the unit, wondering whether she would be able to lure Diane Lloyd away from her unwavering loyalty to Ric Griffin. She doubted it would be easy but she was going to have a good go at it – Diane was one of the best surgeons she'd ever worked with, despite having the wrong specialty. She'd been asked to attend an interview for the post but she knew it was a formality; she was handpicked for the job and Jeremy wouldn't have done that if he wasn't sure. Picking up the letter, she read it for the sixth time and spotted another detail that she'd missed the first five times, the last line never really sinking in before when her head was reeling with excitement from the content of the main body of the letter. The job wasn't in Holby – that didn't surprise her – but it wasn't, as she'd assumed, in London. Instead, she was being asked to head up the new cardiac hospital in Manchester, which opened up an entirely new can of worms.

'Connie, get changed' Michael instructed as he walked into the kitchen that evening, changed from his usual work attire into a much smarter black suit 'I'm taking you out for dinner' he added with a smile  
'Oh…' she glanced up from where she sat at the table, sipping coffee, the letter tucked neatly into her pocket until she felt ready to discuss it with her husband  
'Come on; I've made reservations at Mendel's' he pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her 'half an hour, come on'  
'Mendel's' she said thoughtfully, removing his arms from around her waist and making her way to the stairs 'and what's all this in aid of?'  
'Can't a man take his wife out for dinner without there being a reason?' he asked, following her into the bedroom as she slipped out of the slim fitting black jacket and dumped it and her skirt unceremoniously on the bed before crossing the room to the walk in wardrobe and opening it to examine the contents.  
'Black dress or white suit?' she mused, gazing at both garments thoughtfully before glancing at her husband who shrugged and perched on the bed 'I think the black' she decided, placing the suit back neatly in the wardrobe before gently stepping into the dress 'much smarter. Zip?' she added and Michael obliged willingly, taking his wife's arm and spinning her around so he could look at her properly, smiling with satisfaction as he took in the curves encased in black silk with pleasure.  
'Jimmy Choo or Manolo Blahnik, it's a tough choice but you must make it' he teased her lightly, kissing her softly on her bare shoulder as she laughed and picked up her selected shoes, slipping them carefully on her feet and admiring herself briefly in the mirror before moving her phone, pager and purse into a smaller bag from the large brown bag she carried during the day and turning to her husband 'do I look alright?'  
'Fantastic' he smiled warmly, his smile broadening as he heard a car pull up outside 'right on cue' he grinned and led her downstairs to the limo that he'd managed to hire at short notice  
'It must be bad' she remarked as she walked out of the door and nodded at the driver who she vaguely recognised as the one who took them to regular charity balls before sliding onto the back seat of the car  
'What?' he asked curiously as he slipped in next to her and put his arms around his wife  
'Whatever you've done that you're apologising for' she laughed leaning her head against him thinking that, unwittingly, her husband was setting her up with the perfect opportunity to tell him her news.

'I have something to tell you' she said, entwining her fingers with his gently across the table, glancing out into the completely empty restaurant; buying out the whole place for the night had been Michael's latest romantic gesture although she had no idea what it was in aid of.  
'You're pregnant' he groaned and she smiled enigmatically, enjoying winding him up for a short time, knowing how relieved he'd be when he found out what it really was she wanted to talk to him about 'it was the night of the ball, wasn't it? I knew we should have been more careful'  
'Don't panic' she laughed, watching him pale and then colour up at the realisation she'd been pulling his leg 'I'm not going to be lumbering us with a child'  
'Good' he smiled, not feeling any need to pretend to his wife that children were something he had the remotest interest in; she was as indifferent to the idea as he was 'as it happens, I bought you here because I have something to tell you'  
'I knew you'd done something' she rolled her eyes dramatically 'is she a secretary or an intern?'  
'What?' he asked confused  
'The girl'  
'What girl?' he looked at her mystified  
'You've either been caught sleeping with someone or caught out after sleeping with someone' she told him, biting her lip 'Which?'  
'Neither' he said, exasperated 'honestly Connie' he shook his head and then laughed as she looked worried 'if I was going to tell you something like that do you honestly think I'd be leaving that glass where you could reach it to throw at my head. No, the big news is, I've been promoted'  
'That's fantastic' she beamed, preparing to tell him about her own promotion so they could start ironing out the logistics. The beauty of his job was that, although he had to travel around the country he could be based almost anywhere. Manchester included.  
'You're looking at the new head of the Department of Health for Holby and Bristol. No more travelling Connie; I might actually get to see you occasionally now' he grinned broadly and she felt her own smile slip momentarily before she dragged it back and pasted it on her face.  
'Well that will make a nice change' she managed, draining her glass and filling it up with more of the expensive champagne that had been on ice when they arrived.  
'What was your news?' he grinned at her, picking up a strawberry and guiding it gently between her lips, stroking her face as he bought his hand away from her face.  
'Um…' she swallowed hard and took another mouthful of champagne not wanting to ruin the magical evening with an inevitable row about whether his career was more important than hers and who should take their dream job at the expense of the other 'its not important'

'Morning' she awoke sleepily in his arms and gazed up at him still dozing, his hands toying with her hair, a small smile of satisfaction following the night before on his lips  
'Morning' he murmured, kissing her lightly 'sleep well?'  
'After all that exercise, I slept extremely well' she gave a slow smile and rolled away from him, pulling the covers off him and wrapping them around her as she made her way to the bathroom  
'Hey' he protested as he watched the duvet walk across the room and his wife grin cheekily back at him as she squeezed out the toothpaste and began to brush her teeth 'you said you had something to tell me' he stood up and followed her into the bathroom, snatching a towel from the heated rail and wrapping it round his middle before groping in the cupboard above his own side of the double basin for his razor  
'I said it wasn't important' she reminded him as she reached for her make up and expertly started to apply it 'and it isn't'  
'It must have been' he told her and frowned slightly 'there's nothing wrong is there? I mean, you're not ill'  
'No' she told him firmly 'its… I've been offered a new job too, that's all'  
'Well that's brilliant' he dropped his razor into the sink with a clatter and wrapped his arms around her, spinning her around before planting a kiss softly on her head 'what job is it'  
'I've been asked to head up the new cardio unit for pioneering treatments and research' she gave a small smile and he beamed having read plenty about the unit but never for a moment thought that Connie could be asked to get involved with it, let alone run the place 'its got a budget that makes me feel light-headed just thinking about it, team handpicked by me, brand new state of the art premises…'  
'That's great' he suddenly didn't sound so happy as he remembered something else from the article he'd read 'but isn't the unit in Manchester'  
'It is' she nodded 'which is why I didn't say anything last night. It's going to need some thinking about…'  
'It is' he nodded and then glanced at the clock 'and now isn't the time. We're going to be late; we'll talk about it tonight. I'll pick up a take away and a bottle of something on my way home'  
'Fine' she turned back to the mirror, resisting the idea that the fact that he chose to celebrate his own new job with a no-expense-spared dinner at a posh restaurant complete with limo and champagne whereas her promotion was greeted with a chicken korma and a bottle of Merlot was probably not a good sign. If he'd been as overjoyed about her job as she was about his, he'd be preparing a repeat performance of the previous night or at the least suggesting they ate the korma in the restaurant rather than propping up the sofa.  
'Its good news Connie but it does complicate things somewhat' he kissed her neck softly, brushing his still-damp cheek against her shoulder before going to get dressed leaving her to finish putting her make up on in peace

'You done?' Michael stuck his head round the door to her office and she glanced up from her paperwork giving him a distracted smile  
'Almost' she nodded, slipping another piece of paper from an envelope and scrawling her signature on the bottom of it 'yes' she smiled triumphantly and pushed the lid back onto her pen 'do you think there'll be as much paperwork in Manchester as there is here?'  
'Probably more' he shrugged 'does that make a difference'  
'No' she glared at him and pulled on her coat, wishing that he could bring himself to be a little happier for her than he appeared. Throughout the day it had become abundantly clear that Michael was displeased that there was even a question mark over whether she would take the Manchester job; despite appearances, he still had the old fashioned idea, drummed into him by his father, that her career should be secondary to his. It was an attitude that had caused disagreements before and she could tell that tonight they were heading for a real humdinger of a row that would only be averted by her picking up the phone and declining the job and she wasn't prepared to do that.  
'So you intend to take the job then' he said, his tone clipped, his face impassive although she could see anger burning in his eyes  
'Yes' she told him, taking her bag and rummaging through it, ticking off items on her mental checklist of things that she always carried with her before storming from the office 'are you coming or are you taking the bus?'  
'I'm coming' he pulled the door to the office shut behind him and they walked down the corridor, the uncomfortable silence punctuated by the occasional good night to their colleagues as they made their way to the lifts

When they reached their car where she immediately went to the driver seat, ignoring his instinctive move in the same direction, watching as he backed off, not about to allow her to add "always insisting on driving" to her list of grievances that was about to be unleashed.  
'Is your career really so important that you want us to spend our lives living 200 miles apart?' he asked as she started to pull out of the space and he watched her fingers tighten around the wheel as the row started before time  
'I might ask you the same question' she remarked, slamming the car up a gear and pushing her foot hard down on the accelerator, ignoring the astonished look of Ric and Zubin as she roared through the car park past them, driving far too fast  
'But this is what I've worked for all my life' he protested 'you're not being fair'  
'And why do you think I do what I do? I've dreamt of an opportunity like this for years, Michael' she snapped 'you're not being fair; there are DOH branches all over the country – there's only one unit like this and only one chance to head it up. They won't ask me twice'  
'But the DOH for Manchester already have a chair' he sighed 'I won't get a job like this up there'  
'Well it seems that one of us is going to be disappointed then' she said casually 'it isn't going to be me'  
'Connie, this makes no sense; even with your budget, your job won't pay nearly as well as mine' he attempted to convince her but he knew it was futile  
'Oh come on' she rolled her eyes dramatically 'we don't need the money; if we both retired now we'd still be able to live extremely comfortably for the rest of our lives. This is about your job being more important than mine because you're the man and I'm the woman'  
'That's not true' he protested 'Your job is every bit as important as mine – more so because you save lives, I just rearrange paperclips'  
'Modesty might work on Zubin, it stopped working on me a long time ago' she commented angrily as she pulled onto the motorway and immediately started to break the speed limit  
'Are you sure you're up to running the unit?' he changed tack although he knew he was heading into potentially stormy waters; this particular line of attack would send her into a blind rage and he knew it but he couldn't think of anything else to do 'I mean lets face it; you've hardly made a success of the hospital here, have you'  
'I beg your pardon?' she turned and looked at him in astonishment, slamming her feet on the brakes as she realised the HGV in front had stopped and she hadn't seen  
'Will you please watch the road' he muttered, glancing at the driver of the car behind who was making obscene gestures at them  
'Want to criticise my driving as well as my management?' she snapped, daring him to continue with the line he'd taken  
'No sweetheart, your driving speaks for itself' he remarked caustically 'but really Connie; what with the tanker and the strike and Will… well it's just been one thing after another, hasn't it'  
'None of that is my fault' she protested, feeling tears prick at the back of her eyes as he took every achievement she felt she'd had in the past year and ripped it to shreds without so much as a second thought  
'Oh come on Connie; you wouldn't still have your precious job if it wasn't for me' he told her firmly 'I had to pull so many strings I may add puppeteer to my CV'  
'Perhaps I should take this exit' she mused, tapping her fingers tensely on the wheel as they sailed past a junction  
'Why would you do that?' he was confused  
'Well, Zubin lives near here; you could compare notes on how everything is my fault and join him in plotting my downfall'  
'That's ridiculous Connie' he sighed but she ignored him, deciding that the conversation was most definitely over which suited him; if they weren't arguing there was a reasonable chance they'd get home in one piece.


End file.
